transmote speaks…

On to version 0.6. 1.0 is around the corner…
download here:
http://words.transmote.com/wp/flarmanager/

what is this?

FLARManager is a lightweight framework that makes it easier to build FLARToolkit augmented reality applications for Flash. it is compatible with a variety of 3D engines, and provides a more robust event-based system for managing marker addition, update, and removal. it supports detection and management of multiple patterns, and multiple markers of a given pattern.

what’s new this time around?

[customization]
FLARManager’s smoothing and adaptive thresholding display algorithms are now broken out into separate classes, allowing developers to implement their own algorithms. see Inside FLARManager: Customization for more info. additionally, custom smoother and threshold display algorithms can be implemented via flarConfig.xml, to allow fine-tuning without recompiling.

[better 2D support]
added .x, .y, .z, .rotation2D, .scale2D, and .matrix2D properties to FLARMarker, for easier access to 2D transformation properties that used to be hidden inside FLARToolkit’s 3D transformation matrices.

[better camera management]
changes to FLARCameraSource provide better camera management, with less of a chance that the wrong camera will be auto-selected.

[FLARManager deactivation and disposal]
improved support for de- and reactivating, and for completely removing FLARManager from memory.

[native mirroring]
developers no longer need to flip the viewport to achieve mirroring. when FLARManager.mirrorDisplay is set to true (as it is by default), FLARManager internally mirrors the matrices generated by FLARToolkit.
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just realized i never posted this on my own site.

i was recently contacted by InsideRIA.com to write an in-depth article about FLARToolkit and FLARManager. you can find it here.

another upgrade, hot’n'fresh for you.
download here:
http://words.transmote.com/wp/flarmanager/

what is this?

FLARManager is a lightweight framework that makes building FLARToolkit augmented reality applications easier. it is compatible with a variety of 3D engines, and provides a more robust event-based system for managing marker addition, update, and removal. it supports detection and management of multiple patterns, and multiple markers of a given pattern.

what’s new this time around?

[adaptive thresholding]
makc and saqoosha have been experimenting a bit with adaptive thresholding, so i decided to give it a go as well. markers are now detectable in varying and low illumination — great for web apps, where developers have no control over the end user’s lighting. (the image above demonstrates this feature in action.)

[support for Alternativa3D, Away3D, and Sandy3D]
FLARManager now supports the above three frameworks, along with the existing support for Papervision3D and Flash Player 10 3D. Thanks to makc and rob bateman for their assistance with matrix and camera conversions, and to holde for help with Away3D lighting.

[tutorials and examples]
the Inside FLARManager section in the nav bar above provides access to documentation and tutorials about FLARManager, as well as links to FLARToolkit-related content. simple tutorials are now available for basic 2D, 3D, and collada applications.

[optimization]
some changes under the hood, accompanied by extensive testing and profiling, allow FLARManager to run faster and more efficiently than before. additonally, a number of features are now exposed to the developer to tweak performance on an application-by-application basis. stay tuned for a detailed writeup on this.

[FLARProxy update]
FLARProxy allows developers to simulate marker detection with a mouse and keyboard. The functionality has not changed in this version, but it can now be activated via the external config file.
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i’m pleased to announce the release of a new-and-improved version of FLARManager! this one has been a while in the works, due in part to general busy-ness, in part to my laptop threatening death, and in part to the fact that there are SO MANY NEW FEATURES.

download here:
http://words.transmote.com/wp/flarmanager/
(NOTE, this is now pointing to version 0.41, which is required for the new tutorials.)

quick description of FLARManager:
FLARManager is a small framework that makes building FLARToolkit applications easier. it also decouples the marker-tracking functionality from Papervision3D, and provides a more robust event-based system for managing marker addition, update, and removal. it supports detection and management of multiple patterns, and multiple markers of a given pattern.

 
here’s a rundown on the most interesting new stuff:
 
[matrix-level smoothing]
FLARManager now applies smoothing to the matrix values reported by FLARToolkit for detected markers; this helps to clear up jitter in rotation, scaling, and position. developers can set the amount of smoothing, and easily implement their own smoothing algorithms.

[external configuration]
devs now have the option to specify many configuration settings via an xml file that does not require app recompilation. among the settable features are capture and display width/height, display mirroring, matrix smoothing, and pattern and camera param file paths.

[easier access to detected marker data]
FLARMarker instances, accessible via FLARMarkerEvents, now expose (x,y,z) location (via a Flash Player 10 Vector3D object), rotation on the x, y, and z axes, and the (x,y) coordinate of the marker’s centerpoint. this opens the door to applications that use FLARToolkit to create new user interfaces and controllers, in addition to its ability to produce traditional augmented reality applications.

[documentation! (just a start...)]
i finally got around to generating ASDocs for FLARManager; this Javadoc-style documentation is similar in format to Adobe’s Flex Language Reference. i still have a ways to go to make these docs more useful, but…it’s a start. you can find the docs in the html_docs folder; just open index.html in a browser. i’ll be putting them online in the near future.

[commercial license]
ARToolworks, the group managing the commercial license for FLARToolkit, will be offering a commercial license for FLARManager very shortly. we are just wrapping up logistics now, and i’ll post more about this shortly; in the meantime, please contact me via the link at the right of the titlebar above for more information.
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notes from my talk, “computer vision with flash”, at the San Flashcisco user group meeting.

no slides, as this presentation is mainly demo- and code- focused, but plenty of links and text.

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been getting started on a new FLARToolkit app, and i’ve been finding myself needing more tools…hence the rapid-fire releases the last couple days.

to make things simpler to update in the future, i moved FLARManager onto svn, and created a separate page for it. you can find all the details, and the source, here:

http://words.transmote.com/wp/flarmanager/

major changes in v0.3 include:

packaged things up proper. was getting to be a respectable pile of classes, so i tidied things up a bit.

added FLARProxy.as. FLARProxy provides a way to test FLARToolkit applications with a mouse and keyboard, instead of using FLARCameraSource or FLARLoaderSource.

finally found some time to brush up recent changes to FLARManager. new bits include:
 

Flash Player 10 3D example now works! sorta. translation is off a bit in some areas of the screen (not sure why…?) but converting a FLARToolkit matrix to a FP10 3D matrix seems to be working properly.

camera output mirroring can be toggled in FLARCameraSource; set to true by default. this flips the camera image horizontally so that it appears like a mirror to the user.

FLARCameraSource now supports non-4:3 aspect ratios.

a few minor bug fixes (including one that caused REMOVED events to not fire properly), and a few other code cleanups.

 
download here:

FLARManager v0.2

FLARManager by Eric Socolofsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License; please provide attribution to the author in any projects using this source.
 

read this post for general info on FLARManager.

the people want a Flash Player 9 version.
here it is:

FLARManager v0.1, FP9

FLARManager by Eric Socolofsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
 

i commented out all the Vector references and replaced with Arrays. since you can see the Vector stuff, commented out, you can take this opportunity to see what lies in store for you with FP10 — typed arrays, goodie!

i also changed the project to target FP9, so you should be good to go with a File>Import>Flex Project.

also removed the FP10 3D example (it wasn’t working yet anyway. but will be soon…)

saqoosha just started a FLARToolkit forum on google groups:

http://groups.google.com/group/flartoolkit-userz

hopefully a better place to discuss problems and successes than in the long comment threads on mikko’s and saqoosha’s blogs…

macaroons and cubes, yum.

i’ve been getting my hands into fiducial tracking at work over the last few months, and successfully implemented reacTIVision for an exhibit. amazing software, easy to use right out of the box, and very fast and accurate. (thanks martin & co!)

when i came across the GE augmented reality thingy, i realized that that kind of experience can finally happen online. i took a look at FLARToolkit, and was simultaneously excited and stymied — so much potential, but tricky to use and understand.

i came across Mikko Haapoja’s excellent starter tutorial and got a much better understanding of the system. after a bit more digging, i decided to try to make FLARToolkit as accessible as reacTIVision.

a couple weeks later, i finally have a small framework put together that makes steps in this direction. behold, FLARManager v0.1.

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